


The Caretaker

by Kaoupa



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pokemon Fan Games, Pokemon Reborn
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-06
Updated: 2018-01-06
Packaged: 2019-02-28 22:32:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,065
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13281210
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kaoupa/pseuds/Kaoupa
Summary: After Connal is arrested for his actions in the Lapis Ward Orphanage, Saphira is (to everyone's surprise, her own especially), named the new caretaker of the kids who live there - her sisters Laura and Charlotte included.It's an improvement over how things were under Connal, but Saphira, despite her best intentions, isn't exactly a natural with this sort of thing.





	The Caretaker

It was nighttime in Reborn City, with rain pouring down from the heavens, drowning the entirety of the vast metropolis in the toxic water.

Despite many of the massive city’s citizens being more than capable of functioning at night, most of them had regardless remained inside during this rainstorm. The collapsing city had never truly recovered from the earthquakes five years ago, when the Yureyu power plant had collapsed, and afterwards, the city had slowly emptied itself out. Many of the buildings had not seen repairs in years, and the poison falling down only accelerated their slow deaths.

With that said, however, there was an exception to this rule – namely, the Grand Hall.

Headquarters of the Reborn League, and center of so much of the city’s remaining judicial system – that is, what remained of the judicial system.

With corruption seemingly have sprang up overnight in the city, and so many of the city’s leaders dead or gone, and not replaced, the police force hugely reduced, and the bureaucracy seemingly stalling or halting many attempts at rebuilding, many of the workers of the Grand Hall and Reborn’s Justice Department had simply given up and left.

With that said, however, tonight, those workers had won a major victory for justice – for the first time in several months.

And for Saphira Belrose, who had turned 18 a month ago…

No victory had ever tasted this sweet before.

 

Inside one of the courtrooms of the Grand Hall, a trial was occurring.

“I – What are you saying?” Dr. Sigmund Connal demanded as he stared at the judge.

Sighing as she rubbed her forehead, Ame – the Champion of the Reborn Region, and the trial’s judge (since she was the one of the only people in the region who understood the laws of a trial), repeated herself.

“Dr Sigmund Connal, current head of the Lapis Orphanage, by the power invested in me by the jury and the court system of Reborn, I hereby declare that you have been charged with multiple crimes in your time there. The jury is now prepared to render their judgement, but you have currently been indicated to be likely guilty, from the evidence and word of multiple witnesses. You may, if you wish, initiate a guilty plea with the prosecutor in exch-“

“I apologize, but that will not happen. I cannot go to jail.” Sigmund interrupted calmly.

“And why is that, may I ask?” Ame asked, sounding rather exasperated.  _Why is it that they’re never willing to just go quietly?_

“The children of the orphanage require my presence. They cannot recover from their various issues without a caretaker, and transferring them would cause more issues to their mental health.” Sigmund replied. “Two of them have never lived any-“

“I know just what the children at the orphanage need, and it isn’t you.” Ame replied calmly. “I have reports of your conduct from both the children – or more accurately, the unwilling  _inmates_  – and several of your own orderlies, all of which say that you have used electroshock therapy on unwilling minors!”

“Electroconvulsive therapy is not known to deal long-term damage by itself.” Connal calmly replied.

“In other words, you did what could be arguably considered an act of torture to children multiple times, despite them saying no, “Doctor”.”

“Their consent technically is not required, due to my status–“

“That’s not the only issue, Connal!” Ame exclaimed. “There are cells in that building! Cells! Orphanages are not supposed to have cells in them!”

“They are there for the children’s protection-“

“No, they are there because you don’t want the children to leave your care because they’re terrified of what you do to them. That’s what  _they said themselves during the trial_ , remember?”

“You would not understand my reasoning, ma’am.” Sigmund replied, frowning.

A voice came from behind him.

“I’m not sure that I or Ame would ever want to understand the reasoning of a madman, Connal.”

“Saphira.” Was Sigmund’s only reply as he turned around. “I see that you have spent much time attempting to get me charged so that you may take custody of your sisters by having me sent to prison.”

“Considering that you’re currently in the courtroom as the defending party, I don’t think that “attempting” is the right word, Doctor.” Saphira deadpanned.

“Perhaps. But regardless, the jury will be returning soon. I have little doubt that they will take my side and this nonsense will be dealt with for good.”

“Nonsense?” Saphira scowled. “There’s evidence and eyewitness reports of you torturing children, several indicators that your patients have potentially gotten worse mentally since they came to see you, and that’s not counting whatever the hell you did to Lin.”

At the mention of  _that girl_ , Connal scowled. “Lin was a troublemaker, and I know for a fact that she regularly tormented your sister Laura, among others.”

“And that somehow justifies the fact that she’s vanished, Connal? And that the last anyone at the Orphanage knew of her, you were taking her somewhere for locking you in your “Circuit?” Very suspicious.” Ame asked from behind him.

“That is not your place to ask! She was my patient, assigned to my care by the city, and you have no say in how I watch over my wards!” Connal yelled, turning around.

“She’s the judge in here, it’s very much her place to ask, Connal.” Saphira replied, smirking.

“She has no authority over how I conduct my work, whether with you or those who will remain under my care.”

Saphira frowned. “Is that a threat, Doctor? Because I have no intention of ever seeing you for a session again.”

“It is no threat, merely an observation that your conduct disorder makes you-“

“Slightly more qualified to watch children than you are?” Saphira shot back.

Connal sighed. “I see that no amount of wordplay will convince you that it is my right to watch over the children, then. Very well, I will wait for the jury to render their judgement.”

“You took the words right out of my mouth.” Saphira replied. Before she could continue talking, however, a noise came from behind her. “Speak of Darkrai…”

As Saphira and Connal had been trading insults and threats, the jury had returned to the room, with the handful of attendees, the judge, defense, and prosecution all turning their heads.

Nodding, both Sigmund and Saphira returned to their positions.

“Has the jury reached a verdict?” Ame asked calmly from the judge stand, voice carefully neutral.

“We have, your honor.” The head of the group said calmly. “We, the jury, find the defendant Dr. Sigmund Connal to be guilty of multiple charges, including usage of electroshock torture on unwilling minors, abuse both mental and physical beyond that of said –“

“Electroconvulsive therapy is not an act of torture-“ Connal began to exclaim, genuine anger starting to show itself on his face.

“Connal, stop talking.” Saphira hissed from behind him, having already moved.

The doctor spun around, eyes narrowing. “Saphira. I see that you must have bribed or threatened the jury in addition to my workers to prepare for this case-“

“Doctor, I didn’t have to bribe or threaten anyone for this.” Saphira smirked. “Now, why don’t you be a good boy for once, and go off to jail quietly?”

Connal did not immediately respond.

At least, not verbally.

The twitch in his eyes technically counted as a response, though.

However, he did respond with words after a while.

“Perhaps I will go to jail… after I have dealt with you for good.”

Saphira’s eyes went wide as Connal released his pokemon team.

It didn’t take a genius to realize what he was planning now – and that those plans didn’t end with her in one piece.

Furiously, she began to scramble for the poke balls that she held at her belt, hoping that she could make it -

“Ninetails, Blizzard!”

Before Connal’s Pokemon could launch a single attack, however, a freezing gale swept over them from behind.

While none of them were knocked out, they were all stunned enough to take their attention off of the woman that they had been about to be ordered to attack.

Taking the opportunity, Saphira scurried back and smirked.

It was always nice to have a friend at your back.

Especially if that friend was a Champion.

“Dragonite!” Saphira called, releasing the pseudo-legend from her Poke Ball.

 

Shortly afterwards…

“Well, Connal, it seems that this is truly it.” Saphira asked, smirking down at the man who had tormented her family, her, and so many others over the years.

Even if he wouldn’t be tormenting anyone else after today, she couldn’t argue that he had gone down without a fight.

The interiors of the courtroom, like many public areas in the Pokemon world, were designed to be extremely durable, due to the damage that Pokemon could dish out by accident.

They were not, however, rated for a full-scale Pokemon battle between two gym leader class trainers and a Champion.

The courtroom was a wreck, to say the least. Chairs and tables were strewn across the floor, and several places had massive burn marks where either electricity or dragonfire had scorched something. Several of those places had been frozen over themselves, in turn.

Saphira had never seen an ice-type Ninetails before, but it was pretty cool, she would admit.

Pun not intended.

“Your attempts at resisting arrest will be covered in a future trial.” Ame said calmly, stroking her partner’s white-haired head as she had been since Connal’s pokemon had all been disabled. The Ninetails seemed rather happy with this, if the purring that it was emitting was any indicator.

“This was not an attempt to resist arrest, Ame. I was merely attempting to right a wrong.” Connal hissed. His pokemon had all been thrown into Prison Balls, however, leaving him without any means of fighting the two very annoyed women.

“Right a wrong? More like, throwing a fit because I beat you for once.” Saphira smiled.

“It looks like that to me.” Came a voice from behind her. “Your thoughts, men?”

“What you said, chief.”

“Couldn’t have put it better myself.”

Turning around, Saphira smirked at what she saw. A duo of police officers, as well as their chief, all of them keeping their eyes on Connal.

“Is this him, ma’am?” The chief asked.

“Yeah, this is Connal.” Ame said calmly, nodding to Reborn’s police chief and the two officers following him.

“Good. We’ve got a cell waiting just for you, ‘Doctor.’” One of the officers scowled. “And trust me, you’re not going to be seeing the outside for a _very_  long time if we have any say.”

Grabbing him by the arms, the two plainclothesmen forced him up, neither relinquishing their grip.

Sigmund Connal ignored them. Instead, he focused on Saphira. “This is not the end, and you know it. I will be free soon after my appeal, and I will take back custody of the children from you and resume their treatments.”

In another time and place, Saphira might have responded to that with hostility – specifically, having her Dragonite give Connal a Hyper Beam to the face.

Here in this time and place, she just gave him a smug grin. “That’s nice, but really? There’s one issue with that whole  _taking them back from me thing_.”

“What is that?” Connal asked in a tranquil tone as the police forced him around.

Saphira leaned forwards before she spoke.

“ _I’m_  not the one who’s going to be spending the next few decades behind bars, Doctor.”

Sigmund’s response was cut off by the police tugging on his arms rather hard, dragging him off.

Smirking, Saphira watched him go cheerfully before turning to Ame.

It was time to finish the day on a high note.

“Could we get started on that paperwork for Laura and Charlotte soon?”

The manager of the Reborn League responded by pulling out several forms. “You know what to do, I presume?”

Plucking the forms out of her boss’s hands, Saphira nodded as she began to scan the mass of papers in front of her.

For most people, having to do a large pile of paperwork would be seen as a negative part of the day.

For Saphira, this was just fine as far as ways to end the day went.

It beat getting tossed in the Circuit or her cell of a room at the Orphanage, at least.


End file.
